FBI charges California doctor in hydroxychloroquine Covid-19 scam

A Southern California doctor is facing federal fraud charges after he allegedly told patients that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” that “cures” Covid-19.

Dr. Jennings Ryan Staley, 44, is the medical director of the Skinny Beach medical spa in San Diego, which normally offers services such as lip fillers, botox, and fat transfers. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out, the spa appears to have been transformed into a service selling patients coronavirus packages including hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, the other part of the controversial coronavirus drug cocktail, as well as vitamin C and zinc for nearly $4,000. The packets also allegedly included “anti-anxiety treatments,” according to the FBI.

FBI charges California doctor in hydroxychloroquine Covid-19 scam

This is a good example and reminder to everyone that drugs shouldn't be taken because someone says it works. There's not enough data to support any claims that it's a cure for Covid-19. Among all other exploitative groups taking advantage of the pandemic, beware the snake oil salesmen who would sell you something with no proof that it works, let alone cause more harm than good.

a reply to: AnonyMason

Sounds like the issue was that he was selling without prescription, and at a jacked up rate.

Lip fillers, Botox, & fat transfers are what his clinic specializes in, so he’s clearly not a general practitioner. Not to mention the false advertisement in calling it a “magic cure.” It’s not a cure, and aside from internet meme lords I don’t think I’ve heard many in the medical field refer to it as such for that matter.

a reply to: AnonyMason

How did he manage to get a medical licence to begin with. 12% of the patients in the Hydroxychloroquine preliminary trial died and ~15% had to be taken off the drug due to severe side effects. Out of all the patients, only one was discharged from hospital and the study didn't go through the correct peer review process as it was published three days after the trial finished and doesn't follow any of the basics for getting accurate data.

originally posted by: bastion
a reply to: AnonyMason

How did he manage to get a medical licence to begin with. 12% of the patients in the Hydroxychloroquine preliminary trial died and ~15% had to be taken off the drug due to severe side effects. Out of all the patients, only one was discharged from hospital and the study didn't go through the correct peer review process as it was published three days after the trial finished and doesn't follow any of the basics for getting accurate data.

Citation ?

nm

originally posted by: bastion
a reply to: AnonyMason
How did he manage to get a medical licence to begin with. 12% of the patients in the Hydroxychloroquine preliminary trial died and ~15% had to be taken off the drug due to severe side effects.

Which study? Linky?

Kind of hard to point out to you the reason which was likely they used too high a dose, and left out the Zinc, and I'm quite certain they didn't use any Vitamin C.

The Doctor in NY that started this didn't lose one patient out of the 1,000+ he had treated (the last I heard) - not to the treatment, and more importantly, not to the virus or its effects on co-morbidities.

a reply to: bastion

Can we have a link on study you mentioned, sounds fishy at first glance.

Wondering if test was somewhat set-up to fail by using on already severe patients, elevated dosages and potentially using patients with already underlying conditions.

This is a conspiracy site and one must question veracity of such info flying in face of so many positive reports.

Seems certain groups may have vested interest is suppressing any success with Hydrocloroquinn treatments such as big pharma and innumerable control freaks known collectively as deep state.

a reply to: bastion

He's a MD. Apparently worked as a physician in Iraq with the US Air Force before moving to the bougiest part of San Diego and opening Skinny Beach.

Skinny Beach at Del Mar

For reference regarding ongoing clinical trials please see this link to clinicaltrials.gov

Here's what published regarding remdesivir trials from Gilead.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

The French study here: www.sciencedirect.com...

There's a good takedown of the reasons it's a bunk trial here: scienceintegritydigest.com... ctions/ Main one being the Editor of the Journal is the Co-Author of the French paper.

originally posted by: Phoenix
a reply to: bastion

Can we have a link on study you mentioned, sounds fishy at first glance.

Wondering if test was somewhat set-up to fail by using on already severe patients, elevated dosages and potentially using patients with already underlying conditions.

This is a conspiracy site and one must question veracity of such info flying in face of so many positive reports.

Seems certain groups may have vested interest is suppressing any success with Hydrocloroquinn treatments such as big pharma and innumerable control freaks known collectively as deep state.

It was the other way around in this case. Instead of randomising the control vs trial drug patients, the younger patients were given the trial drug and older were the 'control group' in an attempt to skew the results and make the treatment seem more effective. The paper has attracted a lot of criticism on pubpeer.com... and the authors have so far failed to respond to the questions raised.


Pubpeer is peer review by Drs into papers published by big pharma. This study is the original one that raised all the hype that the treatment may be effective but so far 50+ errors have been found in the paper.

Hydrochloroquinine is just another tool in the toolbox, it does work for some people to help to get the body fight this virus. If you do not have much of an immune system left or the damage is too extreme, it will not work. The chemistry of it does seem to qualify it as a treatment.

No drug they design will be foolproof, no matter how much the medication costs. This one does have it's side effects...but I have not investigated one medication that does not pose a side effect for some people.

For the cost of this medication, it can do the job but it is not a cure for the disease, it is one of the treatment options. It does require an ekg beforehand to help lower the risk of extreme side effects.

A good doctor does not tote a medication as a cure, it is a treatment to either treat the symptoms or an aid to help us fight the disease or condition.

Most meds are toxic to humans if not prescribed correctly or used long term. Except the placebos they sometimes give to people to pacify them.

I do not know the side effects of mixing this med with vitamin C, it does have a synergetic effect with zinc Sulfate. Those two meds have a cost of about three bucks a day for seven days. Although, maybe they are expensive now because they are in demand.

French study finds hydroxychloroquine doesn't help patients with coronavirus -- www.cnn.com...

a reply to: bastion

Cheers mate ...

originally posted by: kasalt
French study finds hydroxychloroquine doesn't help patients with coronavirus -- www.cnn.com...

The study was using hydroxychloroquine at the wrong time, without zinc or azithromycin. Hydroxychloroquine woks better at the beginning, when the viral load is high and most red blood cells are still alive. It is less effective at the end when most of the red blood cells are dead and there's little left to save. At the end azithromycin is more useful, because it kills secondary pneumonia. Also, at the end when there are few remaining live red blood cells, a whole blood transfusion is useful, along with high doses of Vitamin C to protect the body from the toxic remains of the dead red blood cells.

From the study "Looking just at deaths, 2.8% of the patients who took hydroxychloroquine died, and 4.6% of the patients who did not take it died." So even though the hydroxychloroquine was used in the worst possible way, it still reduced the death rate by (4.6 - 2.8) / 4.6 * 100% = 39%.

The study was made by people who don't care about the truth. It was designed to generate a headline saying hydroxychloroquine doesn't work, knowing that many readers do not know how hydroxychloroquine is best used, and would therefore accept the misleading study.